Performing.

Disclaimer: If you think I wrote this blog for you then by all means, read it and pray over it before responding. But just giving a heads up that this was not motivated by one person or 5 persons or any person. I just felt the need to write.

Performing.

performance

[per-fawr-muhns] noun

1. a musical, dramatic, or other entertainment presented before an audience.

2. the act of performing  a ceremony, play, piece of music, etc.

3. the execution or accomplishment of work, acts, feats, etc.

I feel like "performing" has been something I have been on a quest about.

quest

/kwɛst/   noun

1. a search or pursuit made in order to find or obtain something

There have been things that I feel like I have been on quests to get the truth from God on the issue.  Before I got engaged, I wanted to know what true love was. The God kind of love. Recently - I feel like God has also been slowly revealing to me the role of women in the church.

Now it's performance vs. worship. Using your gift to worship God vs. attempting to share glory with God. Wow.

Is there anything wrong with performance?

Can you bring glory to God through performance?

What about performance of secular media?  Can God be glorified in that? What about a singer who sings all day about bars, love, girl power, and country life but then says "To God be the Glory" when she finally is at an award ceremony receiving an award for her performance.

Is that giving God glory?  All the glory?

glo·ry

/ˈglɔri, ˈgloʊri/

noun

1. very great praise, honor, or distinction bestowed by common consent; renown: to win glory on the field of battle.

2. something that is a source of honor, fame, or admiration; a distinguished ornament or an object of pride: a sonnet that is one of the glories of English poetry.

3. adoring praise or worshipful thanksgiving: Give glory to God.

4. resplendent beauty or magnificence: the glory of autumn.

5. a state of great splendor, magnificence, or prosperity.

I feel like the difference in performance and worship has a lot to do with matters of the heart. Matters of motive.

There is a longing inside all of us to be great. To be loved and accepted.  But I must ask... What happens when we take a gift, a talent, given to us by God meant to bring glory to His name, and we use it to try to get love, acceptance, and greatness by man instead of God. When we take something HE gave us so we could throw it back at His feet in worship and instead we use it for ourselves and decide we'll share some of the glory with Him, when given the right opportunity. 

I can't help but think of Ananias and Sapphira.  They sold a possession. They didn't have to, but they wanted to. But instead of telling the church they kept back part of the proceeds, they lied and said they brought all of it, when the reality was they kept back some of the money for themselves. They lied to God and died doing it.  (see Acts 5).

I'm asking the question. How many Christian performers are saying they are giving all the glory to God, when in reality, they are holding back some of the proceeds of that glory for themselves?  

The minute that we enjoy the applause, the compliments, the rewards the world gives us for being "entertaining", the recording deals, the fame, I have to ask -- have we held back some of the glory for ourselves, for us to enjoy, but in the name of "giving all the glory to God."

And maybe you're a performer reading this and you want to just be honest and say,
"Okay, maybe I do want to have some of those things, what's wrong with that?"

Ask yourself.  Pray over it. Think about it.

The moment that we enjoy fame and desire riches and pleasure and the applause of men, we are no longer motivated by worship.

And using our gift in any circumstance motivated by something other than worship is squandering the gift. Wasting it. Not using it for its original purpose.

Jesus will ALWAYS be worthy of our worship. The man who denied fame when it was offered to him by way of a shortcut. (Matthew 3:8-10)  And while we are at it, let's look at that passage...

[8] Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. [9] And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me." [10] Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.' " - Matthew 4:8-10 NKJV

Him only you shall serve. You shall worship the Lord Your God. Him only you shall serve. ONLY.

God is a jealous God. He demands our worship. Our worship. The worship that says, "I don't care if another person compliments me. I don't care if I play to an empty room the rest of my life. I don't care if I'm famous. I don't care if anyone knows my name! I will worship! I will live and 'waste' my life for the cause of Christ! I will sing, I will dance, I will play, I will paint. I will do whatever God has gifted me for one purpose and one purpose alone: To glorify His name. To bring ALL the glory and fame to His name. Anything else is worthless."